Splashworld Venus Beach

During our stay the lifeguards were fabulous we really could not fault Manel and Noura they were brilliant with kids and parents alike very humorous and entertaining. My children loved them. They are a credit to the site

So before our trip I read a few, ok lots of reviews on this hotel and was a little worried! But I so didn't need to be, it was a great hotel. Yes when you travel from the airport to the hotel it looks a dirty country with rubbish on sides of the roads but that is just the way people are use to living. You have to remember you are not at home. The hotel is great when you arrive you are greeted with a refreshing cocktail while completing the relevant forms for check in. This was very simple and almost all staff speak basic English if you need help. The rooms were lovely we stayed on room 708, overlooking the waterpark and the sea so in my opinion it had the best views. It was also a little away from the main built so not too noisy in the evening if you didn't want to go to the entertainment. Although not sure why you wouldn't, it was great, the entertainment team put 110% effort in to all they do. The comedy show was 1 of our favourites🤣, Poor Rio! The waterpark is open from 10:30-12:30 & 2:30-5:30 but main pool is open all day till 6pm. (Please take care tho the main pool is very deep.) The slides were great there was never normally a problem to get a ring although it was easier to get a double than a single( may have to wait just 5 mins sometimes when it 1st opens). Life guards were great and always very cautious to make sure you didn't go down slides till they were clear. So the only thing I did agree with other reviews was that the pools get closed a bit due to babies or small children pooing in the pools in our 10 days it happened in all 3 pools but only once in each. This can't be the fault of the hotel just bad parenting not using swim nappies! But they were quick to clean the pools and get them reopened. Sunloungers...well yes unless you want to get up at silly o'Clock you are unlikely to get one, that is until about 3pm. People were hogging more than they ever used if only people used what they needed there would be enough for all. There was never a problem to get a lounger at the beach tho. The beach was not what I expected, the sand was corse and dirty with rubbish, the sea was clean and warm but you had to walk over a lot of seaweed(which is protected so can't do anything about). There was a great family ran water sports activity centre next to the hotel. Very reasonable, parasailing for 2 was about £30 and Ringo which is not for the faint hearted is about £9 per person. But both well worth doing. There are sellers on the beach but once you say no thankyou they leave you alone and there are always security about if you need them. Food another thing people complained about..why??? It was great so much to choose from. From your basic pizza, chips pasta to lovely traditional Tunisian food, everyday there were different things available. The waiters work so hard and will always get you a table, even when they are busy they will stop to talk to you ask how your day has been and if they can get you any drinks. Drinks are a bit of an odd set up..fizzy drinks aren't the same as our branded drinks but still when you are hot a refreshing cold drink does the job! Yes you have to go to different bars to get different drinks, spirits from lobby bar, beer n wine from outside bar and a pop up bar outside for cocktails! Which is a bit of a pain by you get use to it. Bar staff are always happy and making a joke with you. Entertainment team big shout to Tito, Rio,bibbo. But to be honest all were amazing. Trips, we loved the quads and the camel trips. Both were bought through 2 lovely guys salel and Mohammed who the hotel allow to sell trips and very reasonabled priced. No pressure just always available if you want to book up. The only one issue I do have is not any fault to the hotel but wish I knew is, that getting cash is a complete nightmare! 😫 The 1 cash machine right outside the hotel has to serve 5 different hotels so is always out of money! You can get a taxi to town to get money out from banks for about £3, but still not guaranteed to be able to get money out as some banks didn't accept English bank cards! So take as much cash as you can safely pack. Would definitely recommend this hotel and would go back ourselves.

Having taken 5 Tui Splashworld/Holiday Village holidays in the past 7 years this was the least money we had ever spent on a family holiday. Budgetting for our 40th's in 2020 we accepted that dropping a star and to just do one week was the right thing. We knew the decision would mean certain drops in standard but there were just some real basic things the hotel failed at. * The money situation - being a closed currency we arrived with no cash and were glad to see a great rate in the hotel. However, we tried at first to change cash on the Saturday and were told there was a £20 limit. On Sunday there was another £20 limit and on Monday there was simply no cash. Told to come back at 11, then 12 then 2pm we eventually got cash after having to borrow from a lifeguard! The reason - "it's the weekend". Surely a well prepared hotel would have the experience to stop this happening. And don't depend on the cash point 5 minutes away, it was also empty. * The drink/bar dillema - I've never seen an all inclusive with such a strange set up. Certain bars only sell certain drinks. You can't get alchol in the water park bar but you can bring it in from elsewhere. Wine availability at the pool bar was sporadic. The inside bar then didn't have beer. In the evening there were 3 bars, one didn't do cocktails, the other didn't do beer... Basically if you have a round to get with several different drinks, be prepared to queue 3 different times! Oh and that's only if they have glasses to serve you with. Hold on to your glass, even though it's tiny! * Water park rings - simply not enough of them. I witnessed 4 confrontations of people "hogging" rings and other parents trying to take them. Great sunlounger entertainment but the hotel needs to invest. My advice - everyone queues up at 10am and then again after lunch. Just wait 30 minutes and most people have done what they want and rings become more available but you will still have to wait or get lucky! * The rooms - again just that little bit dissappointing. Our room would frequently smell of smoke, the shower area felt unfinished and needed sealing, the doors did this weird alarm thing when you left without taking the key (great for waking everyone up in the morning when you pop to get a coffee) and simply not enough storage area. We had to live out of suitcases to some degree. * The rest - the 1st pool table had the world's most hilarious slant and everyone played off the bottom cushion after a few shots, the 2nd table kept the white when it went down and the air hockey table stole my money! None of these points are holiday killers - but the majority could be resolved by the hotel. They really started to add up when you also add to that list of issues: * The food - ALOT of turkey and fish dishes. Unbeliveably the very 2 foods my wife and daughter don't eat. I personally ate like a king and can recommend the soups and the fish paella but my wife and daughter struggled some nights with 75% of the choice being ruled out. * The sunloungers - we all get annoyed by the early morning chore of getting a lounger but this place went to a new level. I naturally woke early on our first morning and snuck out of the room (before the key alarm woke the family and the neighbours anyway) to get the last pool lounger. It was only 6:45am! On the morning we left I saw towels out before 6am! I have two helpful tips. The water park opens at 8:30am and there are easily enough loungers vs the number of people queueing. Dont get up at 6, get up at 8:15 and join the small crowd. You'll be fine. Secondly, the lifeguards know the loungers that havent been used and will help you if you ask. By 11am we saw them removing towels. Heroes! This should be standard in every hotel in the world! * The entertaining timetable - the sun drops quickly in Tunisia and it's HOT. By 4pm we were done by the pool and therefore ready for the evening food at 6:30pm start. This meant we were sat outside by 7:15 in turn meaning there was nothing to do for 2 hours. Normal Tui venues have the kids disco first (but this was held in a different area) or a singer, or a fun quiz, bingo, anything. But here the entertainment starts at 9:30pm and there isn't anything else. Take a pack of cards. And top trumps. And dobble. And Uno. * Then there's the entertainment itself - can not fault the energy and the team but it's simply nowhere near previous experiences. Im still struggling with what the heck "comedy night" was. I was so thankful for Mr Hotel and the Michael Jackson shows on our last 2 nights because I simply could not have bared another night of Brazilian dancing for example. I heard alot of people saying the same whilst I also heard people saying how amazing it was. Versus the 6 previous Tui experiences, this was the worst. The team deserve more budget, guidance or maybe to have more outside party groups come in. * And the wifi won't save you - because its really weak and over used. We ventured out on 2 occasions to new and old Hammamet. Alot of the city comes alive much later than we were out and we preferred old to new. Taxis are very cheap (about £2-£3) each way and everything was clean and felt safe. The slides were great and enjoyed by all with some great opportunities to take photos or have the photos taken by the resident photographer who will then print them for £2.50 each. If you like your water sports, right next to the hotel on the beach is a place that does parasailing, banana boats, jetskis etc and were helpful and professional. My daughter and I did 2 activites and spent a reasonable £45 total to do so. I then had all the photos they took put on a cd to bring home, haggling the photographer down to about £12. Other recommendations - the beach bar hotdogs are well worth getting at lunchtime, the foam party is a must and the quality of the booze was better than many other all inclusives we have done. Pop to the small shop just outside the hotel (on the way to the cashpoint) to buy your inflatables, balls, sun cream etc. So much cheaper than the hotel shop. We dropped a star and we saved some cash. We don't regret it and the family all had a good week overall, but there's just too much here that could be so much better. For this reason it is 5th out of 5 in our Tui holiday experiences.